Apparatus for the surface finishing of metal



Dec. 18, 1934. o. F. GOTTLIEB ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING OF METAL Filed Sept. 2, 1932 6 SheetS-Sheet l Fz Em/EPS 66 f2"- M 2% Kay 7 9 dzely 1934 o. F. GOTTLIEB ET AL. 1,94,528

APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING 0F METAL Filed Sept. 2, 1932 G'Sheets-Sheet 2 dam/f 60/272 6% 7mg Dec. 18, 1934. o. F. GOTTLIEB ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING OF METAL 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 2, 1932 Oscar? Goifvef ay /7' Sana fiery Dec. 18, 1934.

0. F. GOTTLIEB ET AL. APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING OF METAL 6 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed Sept. 2, 193? NQ mm mm Life? Dec. 18, 1934.

O. F. GOTTLIEB ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING 0P METAL il ep 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 an N Maw Q ULN WA E? El 5 QacarFGa/ffie/r Dec. 18, 1934 Q F. GOTTLEB ET AL 4,528 APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISHING OF METAL Fild Sept. 2, 1932 s Sheets-Sheet 6 M 6? 91 II, I!

T H 000 NH Patented Dec. 18, 1934 APPARATUS FOR THE SURFACE FINISI IING 7 OF IVIETAL Oscar F. Gottlieb vand Bay .A. Sandberg,' Waukegan, 111., assignorsto ,Oakes Products'Corporation, North Chicago, 11h, a corporation of Michigan Application September 2, 1932, Serial No. 631,446

6 Claims.

"This invention relates to a surface finishing device :and will .be described as embodied in a machine designedand adapted for abrading. ornamentaldesignson aplane surface ofan article of manufacture.

*Anobjectuof this invention is the provision of an :drnamenting or finishing machine by which the ornamenting process hereinafter described may be :simply and rapidly produced.

Another object is the provision of such a machine including .a novel .abrading head comprisingiinstrumentalities for supporting and actuating abank ofabrading units in such relation'with the head and withthe article to be finished, that the :method may be carried .out by substantially automatic manipulation of the head and the abra'dingiunit and movement of the article relative to the head.

A further object is the provision of a novel method of finishinga surface of an article by which it is highly ornamented.

.'On the drawings:

figure .1 118 sa side elevation of a machineembodyingrthe features of our invention.

Figure .2 is a "horizontal section taken on the line "II-4110f Figure 1.

Figure 3 is aihorizontal section taken on the line IIL-JII of (Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion 20f that shown in Figure 1 with the parts greatly enlarged and a portion being shown in section as :taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3.

il igurerfi is avertical section through agear reversing mechanism taken :on the line -V-V of Figure 6.

' .:Eigure1.6 is ahorizontalsectiontaken on substantially'theline VI-VI of Figure 1.

Figure 1'? is a'vertical section taken ,on-the line VII-VIIOfTFlgllIE 6.

Figure :8 is 1a horizontal section through the finishing head taken on the line VIII-VIII of Figures).

Figure 9 is a vertical section through the finishing head taken on substantially the line IX -IXof Figure -81 -.Figure 10 is afragmentary plan viewof a portion of that shown in Figure 1 illustrating the moving table. and a portion of the table support therefor.

Figures.11, .12, 13 and 14 illustrate the method of finishing an article of manufacture as hereinafter set forth indetail.

jAs shown on the drawings:

The 'mechanism herein illustrated comprises a-frame5 havingthereon a vertically movable table support 6 and a horizontally movable support '7 upon which a rotary table '8 is pivotally mounted for supporting articlesof manufacture 9 to be finished. A motor 12 is provided with'a gear 13 meshing with a larger gear 14 adapted for driving a shaft 15 through the medium of a sleeve 16 keyed toasleeve 17 which is splined on the shaft 15. Thesleeve 1'7 is supported 'at the upper end by an adjusting ring 18 engaging the upper side of the gear 14. The sleeve 17 is also provided withaworm 19 intermeshing with a gear 21 on a shaft 22. Thegear 21 is provided with a boss 23 upon which is splined a clutch element 24 which is movable into engagement with a clutch element 25fixed to a shaft'26 upon which is also secured a gear 27 which meshes with a smaller gear 28 shown in Figure2.

The gear 28 is fixed to a shaft29 -on which is also secured a cam 31 which-is adapted 'for engagement with a crank arm 32 connected by means of alink 33 to a verticallymovable sleeve 34 disposed about the-lower portion of :the shaft 15 and spaced therefrom by a bushing 35. The shaft 15 is provided with an enlarged portion 36 upon which is seated a thrust collar 37 engaging a bearing assembly 38 disposed about the enlarged portion 36. A sleeve 39 having "an enlarged portion 41 ismounted on the sleeve 34 and is adapted for supporting the finishing head 42 through the medium of a reduced neck portion 43 on the cover member 44, the upper end 'of which is secured to a collar 45 which is seated upon the upper surface 46 of the enlarged portion 41 on the sleeve 39.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the rotation of the cam 31 causes the arm 32 to force downwardly on the link .33 and move the sleeve 34 downwardly together with the finishing head 42 supported thereon against theforce of the spring 47 which urges upwardly on the rod 48 and which lifts the rod and the head when the cam moves to such a positionas to permit upward movement of the arm 32 and the link 33. For the purpose of actuating the clutchelement 24, there is provided an actuating arm 49 on the shaft 51 having a cam portion 52 on the end engaging a shaft 53. The shaft 53 isprovided with'a notch into which the cam portion 52 may extend for releasing the clutch elements24 and 25 by reason of the spring 54 which forces the arm 49 to the right as shown in Figure 3 when the shaft 53 is moved vertically to the proper position. The rod or shaft 53 as shown in Fig ure 1 extends downwardly and is engageable at its lower end with acam element 55-on the support 7. A cam element 55 is disposed adjacent each end of the support 7 as shown in Figure 10 for the purpose of lifting the rod 53 when the support 7 has been moved horizontally substantially to its limit of movement for the purpose of disconnecting the clutch elements 24 and 25 and stopping the operation of the machine. By further vertical movement of the rod 53 by a hand lever 56, the clutch elements 24 and 25 may.

is journalled in a bearing element 66 in the gear casing 67 and is provided on its inner end with a pinion 68 selectively engageable with gears 69 and 711rigidlysecured together for rotation as a unit and =whichare'splined on the shaft 72 for rotation therewith but are slidable axially thereof. For the purpose of sliding the gears 69 and 71 as a unit, there is provided a shifting arm 73 having a'boss 74slidable on the shaft 75. A rack 76 is formed on the arm 73 and is shiftable longitudinally by a shifting gear 77 fixed toan oscillating shift rod 78 restrained from axial movement by collars 79 and adapted to be oscillated by a'hand lever 81 on one end of the rod 78. The shift rod 78 is provided with detent mechanism for yieldingly restraining oscillation of the rod, which mechanism includes an arm 82 having an end portion 83 seated in a notch in an axiallymovable detent rod 84. The rod 84 is slidable in a casing 85 and limited in its axial movement by adjusting members 86. The rod '84 is provided with a plurality of notches 87 into which are-adaptedto be seated, detent balls 88 yieldingly urged downwardly by springs 89 adjustably held in place by followers 91 having lock nuts 92 thereon. I

From the foregoing, it will be readily understoodthat when the shift lever 81is moved in one direction such as to cause the rack 76 to move the gear 69 into meshing engagement with the pinion 68, the gear 92 on the shaft '72 will rotate in one direction, and when the hand lever 81 is moved in the opposite direction such that the gear 71 is caused to engage the pinion 68, the gear 92 will be caused to rotate in the opposite direction. As best illustrated in Figures 1 and 10, the gear 92 meshes with arack 93 on the reciprocating support 7 for moving the support longitudinally in one direction or the other, as may be desired depending upon the position of the reversing handle .81. a

In order that the head 42 together with the reduced neck portion 43 may be adjusted in a horizontal angle relative to the table support 7, there isprovided a semi-circular portion 95 integrally formed with the head 42 and engaging an arm 96 on the collar 39 having a boss 97 through which abolt 98 extends, which bolt may be released or removed while the head 42 is angularly adjusted, and again tightened or replaced as the case may be for securing the head'firmly in the newly adjusted position. 1

The finishing head 42 comprises a gear housing including a cover element 44 and a body portion 101 best illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. The body portion 101 as illustrated is formed of cast metal having a multiplicity'of vertical bores 102 and 103 therethrough. The bores 102 are. relatively small substantially one-half of their length and are enlarged throughout the upper half of their length as illustrated at 104. The enlarged portions of the bores 102 are of such size that they are cut into adjacent bores and form a continuous opening from one to another. The bores 103 are similarly constructed except that the smaller portions are of greater length and the larger portions 105 are of less length. This construction provides a plurality of supporting shoulders 106 upon which the gears ,107 are adapted to seat. Thegears 108 are similarly supported on shoul ders 109 formed of the body material adjacent the upperends of the holes 103. For purposes of illustration 1 have shown three banks of intermeshing gears 107 and two banks of intermeshing gears 108. Inorder to drive all of the gears of any bank, it is only necessary to positively actuate one of the gears because of their interconnection. For the purpose of driving the gears 107 and 108 there are provided a plurality of intermeshingiaiid driving gears 111 and 112 each of which is mount ed on a shaft 113 having secured thereto'a gear 115. Each of the gears 115 engages with one of the gears 107 or 108 in the various bank's-of gears illustrated such that all of the gears are caused to rotate when the center gear 111 is rotatably actuated.

The centergear 111 is operably connected to the lower end 116 of the shaft 15 by a tapered fltwith the shank portion 117 on the shaft extending upwardly from the center gear 111. The finishing units comprise vertical parallel shafts 121 of two different lengths having fixed to their upper ends gears 107 and gears 108 for rotating the same, The shafts 121 are restrained from downward movement by the gears fixed thereon which are seated on the shoulders 106 and 109'. To restrain upward vertical movement of the shafts 121there are provided ball thrust bearings 122 loosely mounted on the shafts 121 and engaging thelower side of the body 101. The shafts 121 are provided with collars 124 rigid with the shafts upon which are seated coil springs 125 interposed between the collars 124 and the thrust bearings 122'for urging downwardly on the shafts 121 and yieldingly restraining upward vertical movement of the. shafts. Each shaft 121 is provided with a tubular stop member 127 seated on the collar 124 and engageable with the thrust bearing 122 when the shafts 121 are forced upwardly. This member limits the upward movement of the shafts 121 and at the same time allows suf'ficient axial movement of the shafts to adapt the finishing device to a slightly irregular surface.

Upon the lower end of each shaft 121 is secured a finishing element 131 by means of a holder 132 and a knurled nut 133 threaded on the shafts 121.

In Figures 10 to 14 inclusive, the circles 135 represent the position taken by the finishing elements 131 relative to the plate 9 which is to be finished, as the support 7 progressively moves the table 8 to the left as shown in Figure 10. The finishing elements 131 are disposed in alignment and the head 42 is preferably disposed in such a position that the line of extension of the finishing elements 131 in a horizontal plane is disposed at an angle to the direction of movement of the supports 7 in carrying the article-9 to be finished beneath the finishing elements 131. Preferably the angle is such that each succeeding element engages the article in a manner to work on a portion of the area which has been previously finished by the preceding finishing element 131. This is best 12,-.thereis illustratedasecond series of areas 135 which partially overlap the areas previously finished by reach-element: and --which partially overlaps the areas previously finished by a precedingielem'ent; In Figure 13, a third series is shown and in Figur e-1 4,-a fourth series is shown which more completely illustrates the method of finishing the surface of an article. In order to procure the effect of a multiplicity of partially eclipsed circular areas on the finished article, it is not necessary that the angle of extension of the series of finishing elements 131 must be of specified value relative to the direction of movement of the table support 7, and it will be understood that various angles and various amounts of movement of the support 7 between each finishing operation will determine the specific design. A multiplicity of varying designs can obviously be made by this method. Although the description herein has been confined to a device for use on a substantially plane surface, it will be understood that the invention is not so restricted but it is applicable to various surfaces and various designs. The finishing elements 131 may, if desired, be abrasive elements or they may be non-abrasive elements, in which case abrasive material is used preferably applied to the surface to be finished, together with oil or the like prior to the application of the finishing elements 131.

Briefly, the operation of this device is as follows: The motor 12 drives the pinion 13 which in turn drives the gear 14 for rotating the shaft 15 and through the shaft 15 drives the various gears in the head 42 for causing rotary movement of the finishing elements 131. The motor driven gear 14 also drives the worm gear 19 which meshes with the gear 21 on the shaft 22 having a clutch element 24 thereon by which the driving connection between the shaft 22 and the gear 27 may be selectively made and broken by means of actuation of the hand lever 56 and the vertically reciprocating rod 53 automatically actuated by the cam members 55 adjacent the ends of a reciprocating support '7 for the table 8. The gear 2'7 engages a gear 28 on the shaft 29 on which is secured a cam 31 for intermittently raising and lowering the head 42, and on which is secured a crank 58 and a connecting rod adapted to oscillate the bell crank lever 61 for intermittently rotating the gear 63 which, through the gear mechanism in the casing 67, selectively moves the table support '7 longitudinally to the right or to the left as illustrated in Figure 10. The arrangement is such that the finishing elements 131 rotate continuously while the motor is operating. When the clutch 24 is engaged, the head 42 is intermittently raised and lowered sufficiently toengage the work and again clear the work. During the interval of time that the finishing elements 131 engage the work, the table support '7 stands still, and during the interval that the head is raised sufficiently that the finishing elements 131 clear the work, the support 7 is shifted longitudinally. This operation is continuously repeated automatically until the clutch 24 is thrown out either manually or automatically or until the reversing lever 81 is actuated to cause reverse movement of the table support in which case the operation is continued but the direction of overlapping of the finished areas is reversed because of the reverse movement of the table beneath the finishing elements.

'While there has been herein illustrated and described a specific mechanism and a specific cept as required-by thescope of the appended claims.

We claim as our-invention: l. A finishing head of 'theclass described comprising a body element, a multiplicity of parallel *shafts in-said-body element extending therefrom,

and operably connected together for relatively uniform rotation, abrasive elements on the outer ends of said shafts terminating in a horizontal plane, means for imparting rotary movement to said shafts, a collar on each of said shafts, a thrust bearing disposed about each shaft and engaging said body element, spring elements disposed between said collars and said bearings in a manner to yieldingly restrain individual axial movement of said shafts toward said body element, and a tubular limit element disposed on each shaft for engagement with said thrust bearings to limit axial movement of said shafts.

2. A finishing head of the class described comprising a body element, a multiplicity of parallel shafts in said body element extending therefrom, abrasive elements on the outer ends of said shafts terminating in a horizontal plane, and means for imparting rotary movement to said shafts, a collar on each of said shafts, a thrust bearing disposed about each shaft and engaging said body element, spring elements disposed between said collars and said bearings in a manner to yieldingly restrain individual axial movement of said shafts toward said body element, and a tubular limit element disposed on each shaft for engagement with said thrust bearing to limit axial movement of said shafts.

3. A finishing head of the class described comprising a body element, a multiplicity of parallel shafts in said body element extending therefrom, and operably connected together for relatively uniform rotation, abrasive elements on the outer ends of said shafts terminating in a horizontal plane, and means for imparting rotary movement to said shafts, spring means disposed about said shafts and operably engaging said shafts and said body element for yieldingly restraining axial movement of said shafts in one direction, and a tubular limit element disposed on each shaft for engagement with said body element to limit axial movement of said shafts.

4. A finishing head of the class described comprising a body' element, a multiplicity of parallel shafts in said body element extending therefrom, abrasive elements on the outer ends of said shafts terminating in a horizontal plane, and means for imparting rotary movement to said shafts, spring means disposed about said shafts and operably engaging said shafts and said body element for yieldingly restraining axial movement of said shaft in one direction, and a tubular limit element disposed on each shaft for engagement with said body element to limit axial movement of said shafts.

5. In a surface finishing machine of the type wherein an article to be finished is given intermittent movement to present successive portions of its surface to a row of abraders, of a carrier for receiving and moving an article to be finished, a finishing head carrying a multiplicity of abraders, means for angularly adjusting the head to present the abraders in different angular relationships to the direction of'movement'of the 1 10 ers, said head being mounted to swing about an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of said carrienmeans for adjusting said head in selected angular, relationship. with respect to the direction of movement of said carrier for presenting the abraderscarried thereby in selected angular relationship to the article, and means for locking said head in angularly adjusted position. i

- OSCAR F. GOT'I'LIEB.

RAY A. SANDBERG. 

